Passenger and commercial vehicles use various friction elements, such as clutch and brake assemblies, to impart or prevent rotational motion of a driving mechanism relative to a driven mechanism when the driving mechanism and driven mechanism are in an engaged position. That is, in a clutch assembly, the driving mechanism can impart rotational motion to the driven mechanism, and in a brake assembly, the driven mechanism can slow or stop the rotation of the driving mechanism. When in a disengaged position, however, the driving mechanism and driven mechanism are free to rotate at different speeds. A control module generates and transmits control signals to command the driving mechanism and the driven mechanism to either engage or disengage one another. However, various factors may cause the friction element to become stuck in either the engaged or disengaged position, which can greatly affect the operation of the vehicle. These factors that cause friction element failures are often difficult to detect.